Album Review: Hell is for Wimps -- The Newsboys

The Newsboys
Hell is for Wimps
1990 (StarSong)

Line-up: Sean Taylor (bass), John James (lead vocals), Peter Furler (drums and vocals), Jonathan Geange (guitar)

Hell is for Wimps is the second studio album by The Newsboys. It's basically a follow-up album to Read All About It, continuing in the same musical vein. Phil Yates had left the band and was replaced by Jonathan Geange on guitar. It consists of ten songs (which will actually pretty much be the standard number of songs for a Newsboys album, with a few variations and special editions).

Stand Up for Jesus
Written by: Peter Furler, Philip Urry

The album starts out with an upbeat rocker. A pretty straightforward song about being bold in your witness for Jesus. But again, the songwriting on this album is definitely not up to Newsboys standards, and the type of one rhyming couplet in this song would later be condemned in their DeGarmo & Key cover, Boycott Hell.

In the End
Written by: Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner, Ian Kevin Curtis, Stephen Morris

For this next song (which rocks pretty hard), they tackle humanism and evolution. In the End was inspired by the verse in Scripture which mentions that there will come a time when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. The song itself rocks pretty hard, and there are times in the song where John James reminds me a bit of Greg X. Volz (of Petra) -- in fact, the whole song sounds quite Petra-esque.

Simple Man
Written by: Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner, Ian Kevin Curtis, Stephen Morris

I think this is one of their stronger songs, lyrically, from this album. It's a song about living a simple life, devoid of riches that could corrupt you.

All I Can See
Written by: Peter Furler, Billy Smiley, Sean Taylor, John James

This is a worship song. It has a bit of an 80's flair to it, as do the rest of the songs.

Ten Thousand Miles
Written by: Peter Furler, Billy Smiley, Sean Taylor, John James

This is a song about the lengths one will go to show their devotion for God. While it seems the claims may be a bit exaggerated (walking ten thousand miles and dying for God, which one never really knows if they would do that until faced with the situation), it all culminates with the concession that it's God who gives us the strength in the first place to be able to do great things for Him, even, if need be, to die for Him.

Something's Missing
Written by: Paul Evan Colman, Peter Andrew Furler

This is a song about how a life without Jesus is missing something. This is a pretty common theme among Christian songs, so this isn't a terribly original song.

Get Up for Love
Written by: Peter Furler, Billy Smiley, Sean Taylor, John James

Here we have a song that talks about a believer who basically lives in secret, and poses questions such as will you let your unbelieving friends go to Hell by not ministering to them?

Sea of Love
Written by: Peter Furler, Billy Smiley, Sean Taylor, John James

Now we have a love song, expressing his love for a woman with Godly love. A love like this truly lasts forever, unlike the love expressed by the average hair metal band.

Love You Tomorrow
Written by: Peter Furler, Billy Smiley, Sean Taylor, John James

Now this one switches gears slightly, and instead of a love song for a woman is a love song to God. It's a slow ballad, a song about how our love should grow ever stronger for God.

Victory
Written by: Peter Furler, Billy Smiley, Sean Taylor, John James

Finally, we end on a praise song about our victory that we have through Jesus. The verses are a mesh of different paraphrased verses from the Bible.

Closing thoughts: Again, nothing much new from the first album (basically a follow-up). There are some gems on this album, at least from a nostalgic perspective. The album's not horrible, just not up to modern Newsboys standards (or even their standards from the 90's). Again, if you're a Newsboys fan, this album is worth checking out. If you're new to the Newsboys, I'd recommend one of their later 90's albums to get yourself introduced to them.